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It is official, with the Los Angeles Lakers win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the 7 vs 8 seed play in matchup, the Denver Nuggets will face off against the Lakers in the first round of the 2024 playoffs.

The Nuggets’ 2023 championship run featured a sweep of the Lakers in the western conference finals, this was unexpected but truly showed the dominance of this Nuggets team. Since then, the Nuggets have not lost to the Lakers, earning victories on opening night, Kobe’s statue night, and Lebron’s 40,000 point night. It has been pure dominance, but can this continue?

The Nuggets have one of, if not, the best starting five lineups in the NBA. Featuring the soon to be 3-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr., and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Jokic the point-center who can get buckets when needed and with unreal court vision always finds his teammates with an open shot. Murray the true point guard, who has proven his game elevates in the playoffs and the two-man game with Jokic is a nightmare for defenses. Gordon the defensive anchor and dunk highlight reel. Gordon has the impossible job of guarding the other team’s best player, this could be 1-5. Porter Jr. is a 3-point specialist and over the regular season has improved on rebounding and driving to the rim. Porter Jr. is a matchup nightmare, at 6’10” his shot is nearly un-blockable. Pope is a true veteran and is an elite perimeter defender and clutch 3-point shooter.

How does this lineup compare the Lakers starting 5? Overall, the Nuggets are much better. The Lakers have elite rim protection from Anthony Davis, but he is inconsistent on offense. Lebron is still fully capable of kill shots on offense and clutch defensive stops, but age is preventing him from fully taking over games. The rest of the starting five is inconsistent, Austin Reaves, D’Angelo Russell, and Rui Hachimura can be streaky on offense. The Lakers take advantage of young inexperienced teams, exploiting weaknesses and starting out games hard and fast. This unravels young teams, but has not worked against the Nuggets.

If the Nuggets starting 5 show up and play the roles I described effectively, they will win this series. This is not a wild claim, and the same rationale can be applied to most post-season matchups against the Nuggets.